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As a leading waterproofing company serving Toronto, GTA and surrounding areas, we stand out as a full-service company. While many organizations are limited to a few components of the waterproofing process, we can handle the majority of problem areas. Our technicians are trained to do basement waterproofing, foundation repair, sump pump and battery back-up installation and drain cleaning. In addition, we are experienced in concrete works and can install basement floors and stairs, concrete walkways and basement underpinning. For added peace of mind, we include a 25-year, fully transferable warranty with each completed project. Your waterproofing investment will not only keep your home dry and trouble-free but will also give future owners the same benefit without any additional cost. This may be a valuable selling tool for you in the future.
Waterproofing Company
Waterproofing Company
Leaky Basement Repair
Leaky Basement Repair
When you go out to buy an older home -- which is a great choice, older homes tend to be less expensive and have more character -- there are a few issues you can consistently count on having to deal with. One of the more prominent is a failure of whatever old basement waterproofing was done. Old homes' basements are universally damp, musty, and generally not a great place to be.
An old basement can easily be turned into a dry, clean living space. If your home is shy by one bedroom, a home office, some food storage space (holla, Mormons!) or even just a playroom for the kids, the basement could be the perfect place for it. All you need to do is make sure that the basement is dry and safe to breathe in. Thus, the necessity for mold removal and basement waterproofing.
Water leakage generally isn't a problem in brand-new homes, but after only a few years, if waterproofing measures aren't properly pursued, you can end up with dampness downstairs. Left alone, that basement waterproofing failure can end up becoming one or more cracks in the foundation that can damage your entire home!
Basement Waterproofing
So, you have a couple of options. Either you try to waterproof the home from the outside, or from the inside. Doing it from the outside involves digging a massive trench around the outside of the house, slathering tar or some other waterproofing substance on the wall, and then covering it back up. It lasts a few years. From the inside, you basically spot-fix, using caulk and polyurethane foam to fill in any leaks or gaps you can find that are letting water in. It actually outlasts the external form of waterproofing in many cases, but if you miss a spot, it's useless.
Either way you go, your basement waterproofing is going to be a fairly extensive project -- even the internal method requires you to take everything out of your basement. Not only do the basement waterproofers need to see every square inch of wall and floor to look for leaks, but if there's something down there that's collected mold already, it needs to be repaired or (more likely) replaced.
Basement waterproofing is an important part of maintaining the health of a house. It prevents water from leaking into the basement and damaging walls, wood and foundation of the house. A damp and wet basement can also lead to mold growth and insect infestation. It is good to hire a professional basement waterproofing company to protect your basement from water damage. Their experts will first determine the cause of the leak, then clean the area and waterproof it to make sure that it stays dry.
The type of waterproofing methods that your basement requires depends on the condition and the severity of the damage. Another factor determining the type of waterproofing method to be used is whether the cause of water damage is external or internal. Here is a brief overview of the types of basement waterproofing methods:
Interior Sealants- It is used as a temporary measure to keep your basement dry. Available in spray forms, these sealants can directly be applied to the walls and floor of the basement. This prevents the walls and floors from absorbing moisture. It is cheap and effective waterproofing solution. It can be used as a temporary solution until you go for more permanent solution like exterior basement waterproofing.
Exterior Basement Waterproofing- It is the most effective method for basement waterproofing. It prevents water from reaching the basement walls and causing any structural damage to your house. This method involves digging around the house to install a proper drainage system which will run down to the foundation level. It provides added protection to the house from outside water table. Membranes and polymers are used in this method which are known to be very efficient waterproofing materials. This method is serviceable and takes longer installation time when compared to interior waterproofing.
Interior Water Drainage- It is another popular method which avoids water build up in the basement area with the help of a drainage system. It is helpful in removing water which enters your basement during heavy rains. This is a very simple method and pumps can be installed without any professional help.
Exterior basement waterproofing is, let there be no doubt, a huge undertaking. Regardless of exactly what techniques the waterproofers use, it's going to start with them excavating the earth out from around your basement. A lot of you just tuned out, envisioning a huge backhoe in your yard scraping mud away from your foundation. It's a scary thought!
As scary as it is, however, it's a necessity for many homes. If the hydrostatic pressure on the outside of your basement walls gets too high, it can force cracks in your foundation that will get water into the cellar even if it's been recently waterproofed on the inside. Exterior basement waterproofing brings the strength right to where the fight is actually taking place -- the outside wall of your basement.
Kinds of Exterior Waterproofing
There are several different varieties of external basement waterproofing. In the most basic kind, the basement wall is sprayed down with some form of waterproofing agent and then the dirt around the basement is replaced. It's the least expensive, most common, and least powerful way of protecting your cellar walls.
The next step is essentially wrapping your entire basement wall in plastic. It's a massive undertaking, but it adds extraordinary strength and watertightness to your basement walls. It's also a pretty expensive process -- actually more so than the next option, which many people prefer for their homes.
One common alternative to strengthening the basement wall is so install footer drains all the way around the home. Acting much like a solid set of gutters, these footer drains collect the rain that pours down the outside wall of the home and gently diverts it dozens of feet away, usually into a garden or a storm drain. Footer drains will generally handle any problem except a rising water table or a water main break near your basement walls.
Don't Wait Until The Damage is Done
Basements that need exterior waterproofing are already in danger -- there's water forcing it's way inside even through the standard interior waterproofing job. That's serious stuff; the potential for hazardous mold is secondary to the potential that your home's entire foundation could split and crumble.
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Royal Work Corp. Waterproofing Backwater Valve InstallationRoyal Work Corp. Waterproofing Basement WaterproofingRoyal Work Corp. Waterproofing Cracks In Basement FloorRoyal Work Corp. Waterproofing Fix Foundation CracksRoyal Work Corp. Waterproofing Foundation RepairRoyal Work Corp. Waterproofing Leaky Basement RepairBasement waterproofing has become increasingly popular as homeowners have sought to convert rough basement space into living space. Waterproofing techniques and strategies can be grouped into two major categories: External and Internal. In this article we will explore popular methods and techniques of waterproofing basement walls externally.
Why waterproof your basement walls externally? Isn't it true that internal waterproofing is more popular and cheaper? Well generally speaking, yes. Internal methods are very popular and many of them can be extremely affordable. However, strictly speaking internal basement waterproofing is not really waterproofing at all because you're not preventing water from entering the basement walls. Rather, you're devising methods of dealing with the water once it does enter. On the other hand, when you waterproof your basement walls externally you are actually preventing water from entering them in the first place. This is important because water is naturally destructive to building materials. Over time constant water exposure breaks down the composition of any material even the mortar and block of which most foundation walls are built.
So what can be done to the outside of your basement walls? Well, exterior basement waterproofing really boils down to two types of strategies: drainage and barriers. There is also a third strategy known as diversion which can be thought of as an adjunct to drainage. Drainage means you're installing systems to drain water from the ground surrounding the basement. Considering that water follows the path of least resistance, you're giving the water an easier path to follow than to enter your foundation walls. Diversion systems refers to the rain gutters and downspouts on your house. These systems are designed to divert that rain water away from the ground surrounding the foundation and therefore not place any undue burden on the drainage system. Barrier systems involve applying a waterproof coating to the outside surface of your foundation walls. This way the small amount of ground moisture in contact with your basement walls will still not enter because it can't penetrate the waterproof barrier. All of the products, devices, and techniques available for external basement waterproofing fall into one of these three categories. Furthermore, they are all more effective if employed in concert with one another.
Royal Work Corp. Waterproofing Files
Royal Work Corp. Waterproofing Files
Both barrier and drainage methods have something in common. They both require substantial excavation around the structure to expose the basement walls. This excavation represents the majority of the cost of exterior waterproofing and is probably the biggest reason most homeowners opt for interior solutions. Excavation is not only costly but it is disruptive and risky. An inexperienced operator can actually damage your foundation walls with an excavator.
Excessive excavation at any one point can cause shifts in your foundation walls. Finally, there's always a chance that excavation can damage an underground utility line that was either incorrectly marked or just not know about. All of these possibilities can add substantially to the cost of the project. Despite the risks and costs associated with external waterproofing the benefits may still make it a worthwhile endeavor.
Exterior drainage systems are usually referred to as footer drains or tile drains. These systems are comprised of a channel that is dug around the perimeter of the foundation walls at a depth just below the wall footer. The channel is filled with an aggregate, in other words, gravel. In the middle of the aggregate lies a pipe. The pipe has perforations that allow liquid water to enter.
As ground water descends it finds little or no resistance to entering the trench because of the abundance of air spaces within the gravel (aggregate). Once in the trench, the water also easily enters the pipe through the perforations. The pipe then leads to a remote drainage location such as a storm drain or a natural ground water drainage path.
A good exterior footer drain system benefits greatly from a good diversion system. As we mentioned earlier, a diversion system is comprised of the rain gutters and spouts on a building. You might be wondering why you need to worry about the rain water when you have an underground system draining water away from your house. The reason is because water carries silt and other particulate matter dissolved within it. Over time, that sediment accumulates within the footer drains and begins to obstruct the flow of water. The more water flowing into the footer drains, the faster sediment will accumulate. A good diversion system will keep most rain water out of the drainage system. This is accomplished with gutters collecting water from the roof edges and downspouts emptying at least 5 feet away from the foundation walls onto ground sloping away from the house. Ideally, the downspouts will drain into underground pipes emptying into storm drains. The more rain water is diverted away from the footer drainage system the longer the system will last.
Finally, the barrier systems are waterproof layers applied to the outside surface of the foundation walls. Once the ground is excavated to expose the wall surfaces any residue of soil is removed to get a clean application. The barrier material, which is often referred to as a sealant, is usually based on rubber or a polymer. Some products are actually a cement or asphalt and applied as such. The latest commercially available products are quite versatile. They are thin enough to be applied with sprayers which greatly reduces the labor required yet they are also durable enough and strong enough that once fully cured many are warranted to last 10 years or more with proper application.
External diversion, drainage and barrier systems working in concert are remarkably effective at waterproofing basement walls. While external systems can be expensive and most are installed at the time of building construction, a properly designed system installed at any point in a building's life cycle can provide comfortable, water-free basement living for many years.
Basements are prone to moisture accumulation, and that is never a good thing; water can do a lot of damage over time and such a setting would be conducive for mold growth. You need not worry though because even if you are not that comfortable with the prospect of having to waterproof your basement yourself, there are basement sealing experts that can do the job for you. Basement waterproofing professionals would take care of the following:
Prep work
This is technically not part of the actually basement waterproofing process but it is nevertheless an important aspect. This involves inspecting the area to find out what the cause of the problem is (i.e. cracks in the foundation, a pipe connected to the outside, etc.). You will have to get the water out. If there isn't much water, using a washcloth would be enough; otherwise, a sump pump may be needed, and basement waterproofing professionals have that equipment.
Foundation repair
A crack in the foundation is usually the culprit. Water easily seeps through these cracks and while they may not really cause damage to your house outright; and not doing anything about those cracks would cause a lot of problems in the future. This is why basement foundation repair is important. Using a narrow hollow rod to apply polyurethane sealants, cracks can be sealed. Some sealants turn into a thick, waterproof foam when a fine mist of water is sprayed. Some experts use sodium silicate sealers that are applied by using a brush, a garden sprayer, or a roller.
Finishing the basement for waterproofing
The thing is, basement waterproofing is not just about sealing cracks. Your basement was probably constructed using concrete, and that material is naturally porous. This means that water can easily get in even when the cracks have been dealt with. Waterproofing experts would apply waterproof paint to take care of that issue. There are even cases when the installation of an interior membrane is required for an additional layer of protection.
Double checking for inside-outside connections
Water can also penetrate via an opening that has been overlooked so every tube, pipe and conduit should be checked to make sure that there isn't anything that would allow a significant amount of water in.
The important point to note is the first one in the list above - that big hole in the ground. When the walls of the basement are built, there is always a gap left outside the walls which needs to be filled. This void gets filled with loose backfill. The problem here is that water looks for the path of least resistance, and you've just given it just that with a huge pile of loose backfill, no matter how well it's been compacted.
Water will continuously seep into this area. The conventional basement waterproofing provides some form of drainage pipe for this water to drain away, but the problem with this is that often these pipes get silted up. It's natural enough, the water is bringing all sorts of suspension with it. When these pipes get filled the system overloads and a lot of water pressure gets applied to the outside walls of the basement. So while the walls of the basement may be waterproofed in some way, water, as you probably already know, will usually find a way through the tiniest of gaps.
This type of problem doesn't usually go away because the pipes that are supposed to take away the excess water gradually worsen over time. Many times there is simply no access to these pipes which is a huge oversight. Basement waterproofing is also applied to the external walls of the basement to try and keep the water out. This is often referred to as a tanked system.
A better basement waterproofing system, such as the drained cavity basement waterproofing system, works by getting rid of the water pressure on the walls. Water is controlled, collected and allowed to flow through hidden drainage channels either to natural drainage or to a sump pump where the water is removed away from the property.
Choose a reputable basement waterproofer when protecting your home, remember it is economically foolish not to waterproof, because the increased value from waterproofing will definitely exceed the cost of the waterproofing. You should look at waterproofing not as an expense but as an investment in the value of your home.
Basement waterproofing specialists have a lot of tools at their disposal for getting water out of your basement. Interior drainage systems, sump pumps, industrial-strength dehumidifiers, and other even more advanced techniques can dry out a flooded basement in no time.
Of course, there is an even better way to deal with a wet basement: prevent it. With a proper basement sealing before you get 'water in basement' syndrome, you can prevent all of the damage that accompanies basement flooding. You can skip out on the costs of mold removal, basement wall repair or even a complete basement remodeling. A little bit of foresight can save you a boatload of money. Pre-flood basement waterproofing isn't just a matter of a good basement sealing, though -- there are a couple of other elements you'll want to look out for as well.
Gutters
Gutters play a huge part in preventing basement flooding. Put simply, if you don't have water pooling up against the outside of your basement wall, you won't have water seeping into your basement. A good gutter system makes sure that the water is deposited away from your home or, in some cases, in a vast underground cistern that's designed to handle a week's heavy rain.
Foundation Cracks
Many people don't make the immediate connection between their basement's waterproofing and the cracks in their house's foundation. Of course, if you stop and think about it you can see the mechanics: water comes in through the foundation, at which point it has only whatever your basement walls and floors are made out of before it gets into your basement proper -- and those items are often made of wood, which the water will eventually destroy or seep through regardless.
Basement Waterproofing
The actual basement waterproofing requires three steps: drying the basement, sealing the basement, and fixing any remaining problems (like removing the mold, basement wall repair, and so on.) Drying the basement, as mentioned above, is generally a matter of pumping any standing water out and then using a powerful dehumidifier to dry up any wet spots that remain.
The actual basement sealing is often a multi-step process by itself. It generally starts with plugging any cracks visible from the inside of the foundation and basement walls. A nice coat of waterproofing paint (NOT damp-proofing, but waterproofing) is the second part of the process. Then you polish it off by finding all of the holes (windows, ducts, pipes, etc.) between the inside of the basement and the outside, and caulk or otherwise seal around them.
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Royal Work Corp. Waterproofing
Address: 230 Queens Quay W, Toronto, ON M5J 2X1
Phone: 416-837-1077
Website: https://royalwork.ca/
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If your home has a basement you should be sure that you know about basement waterproofing. Basements are extremely susceptible to flooding, especially when the moisture and rain fall levels are high (like when the snow melts or in areas of the country where torrential downpours are common). Basement flooding can also be caused by water problems inside the house like leaking pipes. With your basement under the constant threat of water damage, you should be very interested in basement waterproofing methods.
The first step to waterproofing a basement after a leak occurs is to find out the exact source of the leak. External and internal basement waterproofing methods are effective and seem similar but they aren't completely the same. Leaks that stem from structural integrity problems will have different solutions than leaks from household pipes or other internal sources. There are three basic kinds of basement waterproofing. Interior sealants, interior water drainage and external waterproofing. You should look into each method of basement waterproofing to learn how best to ensure that your home isn't at risk of severe water damage.
Interior Sealants aren't technically basement waterproofing materials, but they can help you make do while you are working on other waterproofing methods. Usually an interior sealant is used to keep the atmospheric humidity levels in your basement down. The sealant can keep moisture from getting absorbed into the walls and floors of the basement. It can keep the moisture from spilling into other areas of the house as well.
Interior Water Drainage. Like interior sealants, interior water drainage isn't technically a method of basement waterproofing, but it is usually used to help deal with basement water levels so most people have come to think of it as waterproofing. Usually interior drainage systems drain away most interior water by moving the water through the footers of the foundation and then out from underneath the basement floor. If you have a sump pump you can usually do this all by yourself. Just make sure that the drainage system will still be operational if the power goes off or if the sump pump fails temporarily.
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